Generally, process reactors are used to process operations upon wafers, e.g., silicon wafers. These wafers are typically processed numerous times in various reactors in order to form integrated circuits thereon. Some of these process operations involve, for instance, depositing materials over select surfaces or layers of a wafer. One such reactor is a plasma enhanced chemical vapor deposition (PECVD) reactor.
For example, a PECVD reactor may be used to deposit insulation films such as silicon oxide (SiO), silicon nitride (SiN), silicon carbide (SiC), silicon oxide carbide (SiOC), and others. Conductor films may also be deposited using PECVD reactors. Such material films, to name a few examples, may include tungsten silicide (WSi), titanium nitride (TiN), aluminum (Al) alloy, etc. Depending on the type of film being deposited, specific reaction gases are brought into the PECVD reactor while radio frequency (RF) power is supplied to produce plasma that enables the deposition.
During the deposition process, power systems and circuitry are used to power various portions of the reactor, and set and/or monitor settings and operational parameters. One example parameter is temperature, e.g., which is controlled by heaters embedded in a substrate support of a reactor. By providing the power and monitoring the settings and operational parameters, the wafer is processed. However, processing of the wafer is performed using a different type of power than that used to power some of the portions of the reactor and than that used to monitor the setting and operational parameters. The different types of power interfere with each other and may also cause damage to some of the portions of the reactor. One solution is to provide a separation, e.g., a clearance distance, a creepage distance, etc., between various signal lines that transfer the different types of power to prevent electric arcing caused by the different types of power. However, there may be a breakdown depending on levels of voltage potential in the signal lines and materials of insulators of the signal lines. Moreover, when space within a reactor is limited, the solution may not be applicable.
It is in this context that embodiments described in the present disclosure arise.